Pagoda Gift Shop

Here's a picture from the Cedar Point webcam from a few years ago. This was taken during the season in July, late at night. I've heard in the past that Cedar Point/Fair have been way ahead of the curve in terms of the testing @jsus describes. While we can't know for sure what they were doing, it goes to show that the maintenance department is very much on top of testing and monitoring track issues.

If it is a track issue, they might be doing work such as welding after hours and when the park is closed this week.

There was a blog post about The Vortex track pieces selling out. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2020/october/track-pieces-from-retired-Vortex-roller-coaster-go-on-sale-sell-out-fast The first and only comment on the post at the moment is "any chance of more of these?"

Yeah I don't really have a problem with the eBay sales, mostly because these were not a gift or gratuity. In order to get one, someone had to actually go to the park and buy one. Add to this the fact that many of these will likely be purchased by other coaster enthusiasts around the country who did not have an opportunity to buy one otherwise. I applaud the park for their effort to make these available. I hope that they were pleased with the interest level and the results. I hope they and other parks will continue to do these sorts of things in the future. Kings Island is a well-known regional amusement park. I think there would have been a decent amount of sales from the national and international coaster community if these had been available online also.

I'm happy for @Vortex1987. Thanks to @IceePirate for being so considerate.

I'm sure they would look a lot better if mounted on a plaque. From the picture it looks like they are about 3 feet in length, that makes them a lot harder to display easily.

I get the nostalgia, but those are some pretty ugly pieces of metal.

I think full scale lighting packages are on the rise for coasters. Take a look a Monster at Adventureland or HangTime at Knott's Berry Farm as examples. There has been discussion lately about how Kings Island has great night rides. I think whenever the next coaster is added, that an extensive lighting package would be great; especially if it is in Vortex's spot where it can be seen easily from the midway.

Seems somewhat indirectly related to French Quarter Confections which opened in a new building at Cedar Point this season.

New trash cans that say "50" on them.

This seems like a good addition to the area. Apparently up-to-date blueprints and aerial photography is not a necessity, as the ones included in the plans are very old. They list much of the land as previously belonging to Taft, which I highly doubt at this point.

That website is likely pulling the wait times from the official park app somehow, but it also lists historical park attendance numbers, which the park has never released. That makes it hard to accept any of the data they are showing. I recently found this site and it seems to be pretty good. https://www.thrill-data.com/waits/park/cedar-fair/kings-island/

I'd rather see Surf Dog replaced by a wild mouse coaster than Flying Ace Aerial Chase. Seems like there is plenty of space in that area of Planet Snoopy as well.

It took years for the old Diamondback seats to look like they did before being replaced. I don't think it is so easy to have a material for the seats which is comfortable, durable to withstand being outside all summer, and permanently resistant to stains.

It is somewhat ironic also that the roof of Diamondback's brake run is covered with bracelets, etc. Millennium Force also had a similar issue when it first opened, as part of the queue was very close to a wall. That wall became a "gum wall" and shortly afterward, that section of the queue was almost never used. People will mess up anything if they are stuck waiting somewhere and have the opportunity.

I agree about the hand sanitizer, although I personally would like to see it directly after each ride instead of before. It would be nice to see more permanent installations of dispensers at major ride exits.

I suppose it is a good thing that John Materese's slogan is "Don't Waste Your Money" instead of "Don't Waste Your Time."

What does Candymonium win?

Oh my goodness the music in that video. I never rode any other Togo stand-up coasters, but I thought King Cobra was great. It had some big air time moments, and overall was less intense and painful than Mantis. I was sad when it left, but also not surprised given how odd the trains/restraints were. "The idea of riding in a standing posture surpasses common sense." There is some ironic foreshadowing in that quote.

I like the ferris wheel idea. I also think it would fit in the space between the Eiffel Tower and Diamondback, or alternatively in front of Adventure Express where Skylab used to be.

I thought the one color trains went well with the other theming elements of "piles of gravel" and "shipping containers". Brutal. (Image from https://www.themeparktourist.com/content/images/backlot-stunt-coaster-trains-0)

I think due to the likely multi-year gap that there will be before another coaster is built at Kings Island, it is probably a bit premature to make a solid prediction. My guess is that the next one will be either a Mack or an RMC. What other Cedar Fair parks receive in the years before Kings Island gets their next one will likely have a strong influence.

I wonder if the company did a survey to see if employees were interested in attending. There was a recent national survey that found that about 70% of people don't feel comfortable going to an amusement park right now. I could see the majority of employees not wanting to go, which would really defeat the purpose of the buy out.

Was at the park this evening. Orion was a 20ish minute wait around 5:30pm. Mystic Timbers, Beast, and Diamondback all appeared to be between 15-30 minute waits.

Whew, there are some hot takes in this thread. I like it. I figure the 10pm closes were just an idea to try to drive up attendance. I wonder if it is actually working?